Politics

ATLANTA (AP) - After dominating much of the legislative session, a set of major ethics reforms is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The laws are among a small number of major bills that become law with the new year. Others include rules requiring all new day care employees to undergo more exhaustive background checks, as well as a requirement that schools provide information about concussion risks to parents. While the ethics laws set the first state limits on how much a lobbyist can spend, there remain considerable loopholes and questions about how it will all be enforced. Under the new laws, lobbyists will not be able to spend more than $75 at a time. Previously, lobbyists could spend as much as they wanted as long as it was noted on disclosure reports filed with the state. (Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is seeking to clarify penalty rules for people who delay signing up for coverage under the new health care law.

Simply put: People who wait until the end of the initial enrollment period - March 31 - will not be penalized.

The Obama administration is preparing legal guidance to address a confusion of dates in the law, which says people must sign up by the 15th of one month to receive coverage on the first of the next month.

That means someone who signed up after Feb. 15 would not be covered until April 1 - and the law also says that people who go three months without coverage are subject to penalties, $95 or 1% of income, whichever is higher.

Even if you're not a federal employee, a partial government shutdown could affect you in many ways.

Here are some examples:

Schools
- Head Start grants that expire on Oct. 1 would not be renewed.
- 94 percent of U.S. Department of Education employees would be furloughed.
- School grants and loans, such as Pell grants and direct student loans would "continue as normal," officials say, but payment of money could be delayed.
- Colleges and schools that receive federal funding would also experience delays.

Federal loans
- A government shutdown would freeze all federal loans.
- Businesses and home buyers would not be able to take out loans.

Social Security
- Payments would continue but could be delayed, and the administration would continue taking payment applications.
- Medicare and Medicaid services would continue.